This invention comprises an improved lamp capable of supporting and displaying artwork, where the artwork comprises a sheet of flexible material that has been formed into a cylindrical length of tubing. In addition, this invention allows other items such as marbles, golf tees, or any other type of three dimensional items desired for display. Previously, lamps that were intended to accept artwork, required that the artwork be comprised of a sheet of flexible material which was bent or curved so as to fit within a container intended to hold the artwork. With prior art lamps, the artwork was required to be a sheet of flexible material, rather than an actual length of cylindrical tubing, where the ends of the sheet were fixed together to form a cylinder, since there was no means to allow the single cylindrical piece of artwork to be placed into the lamp.
Previous problems generally involved the electrical cord and the socket assembly, in which one or both needed to be inserted through the cylinder defined by the artwork. Using a sheet of flexible material, where the ends were notjoined together to form a cylinder, often allowed a gap to be defined along the length of the cylinder as defined by the terminating ends of the flexible sheet.
The gap was necessary to allow the cord to slip inside the curved cylindrical support of said artwork. Generally, since any unattached ends of the artwork were able to move apart from each other, this allowed the ends of the flexible material to move independently of each other, and the artwork quality was usually diminished. This was caused by portions of the artwork that did not match up from one end of the material to the other, due to the irregular pattern continuation between one portion of the artwork and the other, as well as the overlapping portions of the artwork visible so that it was evident that the artwork remained a formed sheet of material, rather than a formed uniform cylinder or other object. Prior art inventions have failed to address the problem of having a lamp accept a sheet of artwork, in which the ends of said sheet have been attached to each other to form a single cylinder of artwork.
Referring now to U.S. Pat. No. 4,028,848 (Murray), a prior art lamp is shown, in which the lamp has the ability to contain a desired display within the confines of the supporting structure of the lamp. In this particular patent, the lamp can contain a terrarium. The matter being displayed can be introduced into the lamp's supporting structure, or pedestal portion, by separating the upper and lower portions of said pedestal. This particular lamp attempts to deal with the problem of the socket and electrical supply, by having the electrical cord literally unplug within the pedestal portion. The obstruction caused by the socket is eliminated by simply removing the socket. This particular lamp does not address or give rise to any artistic inference that would allow the socket to remain in place, along with the cord remaining intact, where the artwork would still be able to be inserted or removed.
Referring now to U.S. Pat. No. 4,504,893 (Bostick), a prior art lamp is shown, in which the pedestal portion has a top cap that can be removed, so as to allow access to the interior portion of the pedestal. The obstruction that would normally be caused by a socket is removed, since the sockets are not placed directly above the pedestal, but are instead situated to one side. The benefits of this lamp are unable to be realized if a socket is positioned directly above the pedestal portion of the invention. In addition, this lamp is unable to accept artwork in a single cylinder form, where the socket is directly above the pedestal poriton.
Referring now to U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,525 (Stout), a display lamp is shown, in which the invention contemplates the possibility of a terrarium in the lamp, and a desire for easy access to the lamps interior. Access to this lamp is not readily obtained through the top portion of the pedestal, and so there is no attempt, actual or inferred, to deal with the problem of obstruction by the socket by attempting to insert items through the top side of the lamp.
Referring now to U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,652 (Nurre), a lamp having a changeable display base is shown. This lamp has some similarities with the present invention, but evidences the shortcomings that this present invention overcomes. In this lamp, the display sleeve must define a longitudinal gap, so that the electrical cord can pass through the gap, whereby the electrical cord is effectively surrounded by the visual display sleeve. Without the gap, the display sleeve is unable to be fitted within the lamp. This lamp is unable to display a tubular section of a display in which no longitudinal gaps are defined. Any artwork used with this lamp, where the artwork is comprised of a sheet, most not have its ends joined together in any permanent nature, prior to its introduction into the lamp. This shortcoming is avoided in the present invention.
While lamps can be created at the initial manufacturer's point of construction so as to be infused any desired artwork into a specific lamp, the ideas and priorities of people tend to change over time, which also causes artwork within a lamp to either become outdated or uninteresting. Removal of the artwork should involve minimal effort, as well as the replacement of the artwork likewise involving minimal effort.